Absorbabilities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The ability of a substance to take in and retain another material is known as its capacity for absorption
2. This term refers to how well a material can incorporate and hold onto substances that are introduced to it
3. The quality of a material that enables it to take in and hold fluids or other substances

Etymology: "Absorbabilities" is the plural of "absorbability", a noun for the quality of being capable of soaking up something, such as liquid or energy. It is formed from "absorb" plus the suffix "-ability", and the plural simply counts several such qualities or degrees of them. The base word "absorb" came into English from Old French "assorbir", which in turn came from Latin "absorbere", meaning "to swallow up" or "suck in". That Latin verb joined "ab" ("away, off") to "sorbere", "to suck in or sip", so the original picture is of something being drawn down and swallowed. The same Latin root gives English "sorbet", a frozen dessert once sipped as a drink. The suffix has its own path. Latin "-abilis" meant "able to be", and it reached English through Middle French "-able", while "-ity" arrived as the Latin "-itas" ending. English combined these into "-ability" to form nouns of capacity, so "absorbability" is a nearly transparent coinage built from parts that were all in use long before it was formed.

Synonyms: absorbency, absorption, permeability, sorption, retention